Gujjar Mahasabha requests inclusion of Gojira, Pahari, Punjabi as official languages in Jammu and Kashmir
Sep 18, 2020
Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 18 : The Gujjar Mahasabha on Friday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the inclusion of Gojri, Pahari, and Punjabi as the official languages of Jammu and Kashmir in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
In the letter, Eshfaq-Ur Rehman Poswal, a Gujjar Mahasabha leader stated that nearly 45 per cent of the union territory's population spoke the three languages.
"Making Hindi, Dogri, Kashmiri, Urdu, and English as the official languages in of Jammu and Kashmir is a welcome step but neglecting Punjabi, Gojrii, and Pahari and some other languages of UT will alienate and marginalize certain sections," Poswal said in the letter.
"I request both the union government and opposition parties to go through the letter to consider the genuine grievances of the people before the bill was actually brought in the Parliament for seeking the nod of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha,"
He also mentioned that people of the marginalized sections had been agitating on the roads for several days demanding the same.
"I want to request to you that the opposition parties must force the government in this regard if the government fails to do so," the letter added.